_

when yunho awoke the next morning, he opened his eyes to find mingi already awake and sat up in the bed. he had his knees pressed to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs.

"good morning, mingi" yunho croaked out, "how are you feeling?"

it took a second for mingi to reply but when he did, he didn't answer the question.

"I'm so sorry, yunho"

a dull pain made itself known in yunho's back as he sat up next to mingi and he realised the other boy had probably been up for a while thinking about what caused it.

"it's okay, mingi. I can't even begin to understand what you've been through so I can't judge you"

"but I hurt you.."

"it didn't hurt that much" yunho said with a wink - he was lying of course. mingi just laughed awkwardly.

"listen, mingi - if you don't mind me asking.. who did you think I was?"

mingi's features darkened at the question and it didn't go unnoticed. "you don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable.."

"no, it's okay - it's the least I can do" mingi began, "it wasn't just one person... it's complicated... people used to harass me on the street, try to steal the money I'd made.. first you were one of those people, and then..." he trailed off again. "and then you were my ex-boyfriend"

mingi looked up slightly, surprised at his own bravery, and then he explained: "he'd hit me sometimes"

yunho said nothing but inside his heart felt like it was breaking. "I'm so sorry, mingi"

yunho had found it unfair how the cards were always stacked against some people. some people - good people - suffered so needlessly while other, not so good people, got to live a nice little life. and mingi was one of those people whose life had dealt him way too much shit.

"it's okay"

"it isn't okay" yunho argued, "you don't deserve that. no one deserves that"

"he was extremely possessive and controlling. right from the beginning - I should have known what was going to happen"

"I'm glad you got out" yunho said honestly.

mingi let out a dry laugh, "knowing him he's probably still looking for me now"

yunho's saddened expression was taken over by a more serious one, "he'll never get to you, mingi. I wouldn't let him"

_

the next few days passed by pretty smoothly, much to the pleasant surprise of both boys.

after that first night, yunho had abandoned his own bed for the one in the spare room where mingi now slept, as per his request. "I slept a lot better when you were next to me" he had said.

after a few days of not opening the shop, yunho had decided he needed to go back and catch up with all outstanding requests. he didn't want to leave mingi alone in his home just yet, so he brought mingi to work but let him chill out in the back, feeling he may need time to recover from the situation the night before. he gave him some headphones and told him to help himself to coffee.

but by the end of the first day back, mingi was too desperate to come back out onto the shop floor to help. he had no problems with sweeping the floor after yunho had made an arrangement or doing any other tasks the older boy needed assistance with. in fact, he loved it. mingi felt like he had some purpose for once and so he did everything with a huge beam plastered on his face.

the days after had been the same; there had been no more nightmares and mingi seemed like he was getting back to his normal self.

"we should head to the store after we close tonight. we don't have much food left in and you can grab some stuff that you like so I know what to get in the future"

"ahh hyung, just buy whatever you usually get" mingi replied shyly.

"nope!" yunho exclaimed, "we're gonna get some of your favourite snacks, okay?"

mingi smiled a little at the cute gesture, but still felt incredibly uncomfortable with yunho spending his money on him.

"we need to get you some new clothing too. we've been lucky we're pretty much the same size" yunho added.

"I really don't like the idea of you buying things for me, yunho. it's your money that you work hard for"

"exactly - and I can choose to spend it on what, or whoever I like, right?" he replied with a wink in mingi's direction. he looked so cute and mingi felt his heartbeat quicken beneath his shirt.

"if you say so, hyung"

_

as the two boys entered the store, mingi recalled the times he sneaked behind this exact building to look through the bags of food that were freshly thrown to waste. oftentimes he had eaten very well thanks to this practice, but actually being inside the store gave him a bad case of imposter syndrome.

"it's okay" yunho whispered, yet again being able to sense when the other was feeling nervous. "we'll be super quick, I promise"

and yunho kept his word. he seemed to know exactly what he wanted like he had kept a mental list, except this time he always asked mingi what his preferences were where anything was concerned.

he learned that mingi's favourite food was italian, something which he ate a lot of in his life before. so he made sure to buy pasta and delicious sauces, herbs and spices. he warned mingi that he had never tried to cook italian before, but he would try his best for him. mingi had giggled shyly at this, "I'm sure it'll be great, hyung"

after twenty minutes had passed, mingi was beginning to feel a little more relaxed and let himself feel happy at the prospect of going home with some delicious food. he was feeling good.

until...

mingi did a double-take. yunho was too focused on whatever was on the next aisle to notice, but mingi couldn't take his eyes off the guy he could see walking away from one of the cash registers. he had only seen his face momentarily before the guy had turned his back and started making his way towards the exit - but it was enough.

a wave of complete terror coursed through his entire being as he tried to ignore what he had just seen before yunho noticed there was something wrong.

"do you want some potato chips?"

yunho's voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere in the distance and all the other sounds around him seemed to fade into nothingness.

"mingi?"

it was the only sound he could hear above his own pounding heartbeat.

"yeah? oh, urm.. yeah, sure"

"are you okay?" yunho asked, a concerned expression dawning on his face.

"yeah, yeah. I'm good" mingi lied. he caught up with yunho and walked closer to him than before. yunho had the ability to make him feel safe, and right now he felt anything but.

_

during the car journey home, mingi allowed himself to believe that there was a small possibility that he could have been mistaken.

after all, this was a whole different town. there was no way youngjo could have found out where he was. it wasn't like he'd been on social media for the past nine months.

yeah, it could have easily been some guy that looked like him. there was no reason youngjo would be in a store round here.

he wanted to believe it so badly - because if there was any reason youngjo was around here, he knew it would be because of him.

"oh, I love this song" yunho spoke, breaking the other away from his thoughts. "do you know it?" he asked with a quick glance to the side.

"I think I've heard it before" mingi replied.

and then yunho turned up the volume and began to sing along at the top of his lungs. he had a great voice - mingi almost couldn't believe it. it made him smile stupidly as he watched the older sing along happily.

and for at least the rest of the journey home, it was all that filled his mind.

_